Scientists and engineers continue to seek improvements in all areas of aircraft performance. Recent military campaigns, for example, have demonstrated an increased need for improved short takeoff and landing (STOL) performance to allow aircraft to operate in environments where sophisticated airports and other landing facilities may not be available. In particular, it is desirable to create aircraft that are able to takeoff and/or land even on relatively short runways.
One way to improve STOL performance is to increase the amount of lift produced along the airfoil surfaces of the aircraft. By increasing the amount of lift produced by each wing, for example, the aircraft can become airborne at a lower airspeed, thereby reducing the amount of runway needed for takeoff. Various aircraft designs have attempted to maximize the amount of lift produced along an airfoil surface through exploitation of the well-known Coanda Effect. In many of these designs, air moving over the wing can be “bent down” towards the ground using flaps and a jet blowing over a curved surface to increase the amount of lift produced. Aircraft that have successfully exploited the Coanda Effect for STOL purposes include the Boeing YC-14 as well as various unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the like. Nevertheless, there remains a desire for aircraft designs with even better STOL performance.